Flush valves



H. R. BILLETER Oct. 18, 1966 FLUSH VALVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 13, 1964 Fig.

Fig. 2

INVENTOR HENRY R. B/LLETER PARKER 8 CARTER ATTORNEYS Oct. 18, 1966 H. R. BILLETER 3,279,742

FLUSH VALVES Filed Aug. 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HENRY R. B/LLETER BY PARKER 8 CARTER ATTORNEYS R. 5 o T 2 a N m M i MN I 1|! r 6 F a a w w m W a I UHF m 1 a 4. r 0. 1 a, I v\ I F F 4 M 3 m United States Patent 3,279,742 FLUSH VALVES Henry R. Biileter, Deerfield, 111., assignor to Sloan Valve Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 389,321 12 Claims. (Cl. 251-40) This invention relates in general to improvements in flush valves for water closets and other plumbing equipment and the principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved flush valve for the aforesaid purpose.

Another object is to design a new and improved flush valve which is useful in waters containing a high percentage of sedimentary deposits or where corrosive waters have a deleterious effect upon the operating parts and inner surfaces of the flush valve.

A further object is to provide an improved flush valve in which the parts are more readily assembled; are much simpler in structure; and are arranged more compactly with respect to one another.

An additional object is to provide a novel piston for a flush valve in which all the working parts are corrosionproof and in which a novel arrangement is provided for shielding and protecting the by-pass in the piston, from becoming clogged.

A further object is to provide a new and improved flush valve piston having novel seating and sealing means for the associated relief valve and for supporting the relief valve in a novel manner on the piston.

Another object is to provide a new and improved piston unit for a flush valve in which the various parts comprising the piston are assembled by a simple press fit without the use of extraneous fastening means or screw threads.

The foregoing and other objects and features not particularly enumerated will be pointed out hereinafter in connection with the detailed description which together with the accompanying drawings constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows a cross-sectional elevation of the novel flush valve;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of a fragmentary portion of the piston unit;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the piston unit;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the piston unit;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of the cylindrical piston member;

FIGURE 6 is side elevation of the cylindrical piston member;

FIGURE 7 is a bottom view of the relief valve memher; while FIGURE 8 is a top view of the by-pass ring and shield.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the casing 5 of the improved flush valve preferably consists of a brass body of the configuration shown, cored to provide a hollow interior portion having an inlet water supply connection 6, an outlet water discharge connection 7, and a handle coupling connection 8. A main valve seat 9 is recessed inside the body 5 and a hollow cylindrical shaped piston unit 10 is adapted to reciprocate within the body 5. The piston 10 has a lower stepped portion 11 formed therein normally seating upon and closing the main valve seat 9 to control the water flow through the flush valve. The upper end portion of piston 10 is in slidable engagement with a ring shaped packing member 12, the lower tapered end 13 of which is spaced slightly from the cylindrical body wall 5 to allow for expansion and movement of the packing during operation of the piston. The outer edge portion of the packing ring 12 is reinforced by an imbedded metal ring 14 and the ring is clamped directly and firmly upon the upper edge portion of body 5 by the 3,279,742 Patented Oct. 18, 1966 cover 15 screwed on the body as shown. The packing ring 12 may be made of rubber, leather, or other suitable composition material.

The piston 10 comprises a completely assembled unitary structure readily insertable and removable from the body 5 when the cover 15 is removed. The piston 10 has its cylindrical wall portion formed into a series of downwardly converging stepped portions, the valve seating step portion being indicated at 11, while directly below this step is the refill head portion 16 which tapers off the flush during the close off of the valve. Below the refill head portion 16 are the guide wings 17 to properly guide the piston in its movements. Another stepped portion of the piston indicated at 18 is located above the valve seat 9 and has a by-pass orifice unit 19 press fitted through the piston wall. This by-pass 19 consists of a small tube having a restricted orifice of about .021 inch in diameter and a somewhat larger diameter opening facing towards the inside of the piston wall to assist in freely expelling sediment which might pass through the small orifice. The outside smooth wall diameter 20 of the piston 10 is in slidable contact with the packing ring 12, and at its upper inner diameter the piston has an annular shoulder 21 formed therein.

Supported within the piston 10 is a cylindrical insert member 25 having an upper flange portion 26 press fitted into the top end of the piston and against the ledge 21. At the lower smaller end 27 of the insert 25 there is recessed an O-ring 28 bearing against the inner wall of the piston 10 and in sealing relationship therewith. An annular space 29 is formed between the outer wall of insert 25 and the inner wall of the piston 10. An annular ledge 30 on insert 25 supports O-ring 31 serving as the relief valve seat. The cylindrical member 25 is easily press fitted into the inner diameter of the piston and held in place by the mutual gripping action of their surfaces at the upper end 21 and 26, and by the O-ring 28 at the lower end. No threading or other fastening means are therefore necessary to hold the insert 25 in position inside the piston 10.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 3 and 4, it will be noted that the piston 10 has a series of spaced ribs 34 and slots 35 formed around its circumference with each rib 34 having in addition a protruding upper ring stop portion 36. A second annular row or series of spaced ribs 37 and slots 38 are formed on the piston 10 above the lower row with the bypass unit 19 located between the two rows of ribs and slots. The slots 35 and 38 are much wider than the width of the ribs. As best seen in FIGURE 2, both sets of ribs 34 and 37 serve to support an annular shielding ring 40 which is press fitted over the ribs at both the top end and the bottom end of the ring, the inherent resiliency of the ring 40 and piston 10. being sufficient to firmly hold the ring in place. With the ring 40 in place annular space 41 is formed between the ring and outside wall of piston 10 and below the by-pass 19.

The principal purpose of the ring 40 is to protect and shield the bypass 19 from becoming clogged when the flush valve is used under conditions where dirty water is encountered. To this end the spacing between the lower end of ring 40 and the slots 35 is about .005 inch although the length of the slot between the ribs 36 is much greater. Since the orifice in the by-pass 19 is of the order of only .021 inch it is seen that sedimentary deposits of a size larger than the by-pass orifice cannot enter the space 41. Similarly the upper row of ribs 37 space the ring 44) the same distance, namely .005 inch, from the slots 38 to shield the by-pass 19 at that point. The lower row of ribs 34 are preferably arranged in vertical alignment with the upper row 37 to permit freer passage of water through the slots 35 and 38. From the foregoing it will be apparent that a much greater area is exposed to the entry of water into the space 41 while effectively protecting the by-pass 19 from becoming clogged. Formerly by-passes had been exposed directly to the inlet flow of water or merely protected by a screen or mesh which quickly became clogged with debris rendering the Hush valve inoperative. The present arrangement of the ring 40 and ribs and slots entirely obviates this difiiculty.

A further advantage of the ring 40 and its arrangement with the piston 10 is that the space 41 serves as a catchall or sump to collect small pieces of sediment or silt which may pass through the slots 35 and 38 but which do not enter the by-pass 19. The space 29 above the bypass serves a similar purpose.

Referring now to FIGURES and 6 which depict the inner cylindrical piston insert 25, this is also provided with an annular series of ribs 42 and slots 43 around its upper end. The ribs 42 space the slots 43 a distance of approximately .0235 inch from the piston wall. The space between the ribs 42 in the slots 43 provides a much greater area for water flow than the by-pass 19, for passage of water through the space 2? and into the pressure chamber 44. The upper edge of each rib 42 has an abutment 45 formed on it which rests and is press fitted onto the ledge 21 at the upper end of pistonltl.

Located axially within the piston and cylindrical insert 25 is a relief valve 50 having a depending stem portion centrally bored to loosely and slidably receive the relief valve operating stem 51. The upper head portion of the operating stem 51 rests on a ledge in chamber 52 formed in the upper end of the relief valve 50. The head 53 of the relief valve 50 rests upon the O-ring 31 and thereby normally closes ofi the pressure chamber 44. A plug or button 54 is snapped into the top of the chamber 52 and by means of the small O-ring 55 around the lower end of the button 54, seals off this chamber from the pressure chamber 44. A restoring spring 56 for the relief valve 50 engages the top of the button 54 and a recess 57 in the top of cover 15. A series of flutes 58 around the relief valve 50 below the head 53 serve to properly guide the relief valve upon its O-ring seat 31.

The operating handle 60 for the flush valve is fastened to the flush valve body 5 by means of coupling nut 61 and when the handle is oscillated in any direction it forces the plunger 62 inward against the relief valve stem 51, thereby tilting the relief valve 50 off its seat 31. The plunger 62 is guided and supported in the bushing 63 and restored by the spring 64-. A rubber sealing cap or packing 65 is snapped on the end of bushing 63 and prevents leakage outward from the handle opening. In order to prevent removal of the sealing member 65 from its engagement with bushing 63, in case it tends to stick to the plunger 62, a downward projection 66 is formed in the body 5 and engages the holding flange on the sealing member 65 to hold it in place.

In the normal closed position of the flush valve, the water pressure at the inlet supply 6 is present in the pressure chamber 44 and extends via the by-pass 19 and the slots 35 and 38 under ring 40, the sumps 41 and 29, and the slots 43 into the chamber 44. Because of the greater area on top of the piston assembly upon which the pressure manifests itself compared to the area around the valve seat 9, the pressure differential holds the piston 10 closed firmly on the valve seat 9. Tilting the relief valve 50 off its O-ring seat 31, permits the pressure in chamber 44 to be relieved through the center portion of the insert 25 and piston 10 into the outlet 7 of the flush valve. The inlet water flow can now raise the piston assembly off of the valve seat 9, sliding the outside of the piston along the packing ring 13 and permitting full water flow from the inlet 6 to the outlet 7 to flush the fixture to which the flush valve is connected.

In case the handle plunger 62 is held operated unduly long, the flush valve will perform its flushing cycle regardless and shut off. This is accomplished by the lower end of the relief valve stem 51 coming to rest on top of the plunger 62 and telescoping within the bore of relief valve 59. As a result, the relief valve head 53 closes upon the O-ring relief valve seat 31, assisted by the restoring spring 56 and gravity, thereby closing off the pressure chamber 44. This permits the differential pressure to create flow into the pressure chamber 44 through the by-pass 19, slowly forcing the piston assembly downward and finally closing it upon the valve seat 9 to again shut off the water flow. Spring 56 at this time also overcomes the friction of the packing ring 13 against the piston.

So that full advantage may be taken of the fact that most of the parts of the flush valve are simple in construction, they readily lend themselves to plastic molding processes wherein no additional machining or other operations are required, thus reducing manufacturing costs of the valve. To this end the parts are preferably molded of a plastic material such as acetal resin which is suitable for the purpose. By using such a plastic the parts are also made corrosion-proof, inhibit the formation of scale or other deposits, and are dimensionally stable. The use of plastic material and its inherent resiliency enables the parts to be readily press fitted together with the assurance that they will remain held assembled under all possible operating conditions.

The valve parts which may be made of plastic such as is sold under the trade name Delrin include the following: piston 10, cylindrical insert 25, by-pass guard ring 40, relief valve 56, and the handle bushing 63. The remaining parts of the valve are of metal preferably brass, while the packing ring 13 may be of rubber as is the handle packing 65 and the valve seat 9.

It will be obvious from the above description that a novel flush valve has been devised which is simple in construction, readily assembled, reliable and positive in oper ation, and economical to produce. The various parts are simply assembled by being press fitted or snapped together and no complicated fastening means, such as threading, bolts, screws, or clips, are required. The by-pass 19 is positively protected from clogging; the piston slides smoothly up and down against the cup packing 13; and the relief valve provides a simple non-hold open feature.

It is of course to be understood that the various details of structure and the arrangement of the parts may be changed or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a flush valve, a hollow body having an inlet and an outlet therein with a valve seat formed around said outlet, a piston in said body normally closing said valve seat and providing a pressure chamber above said piston, said piston having a by-pass extending therethrough for passage of water into the pressure chamber from said inlet, said piston having a relief valve seat therein with a relief valve normally closing the same against the egress of water from said pressure chamber, and means interposed between said by-pass and inlet for precluding entry of sedimentary deposits in said by-pass tending to clog the same, said last named means comprising a ring-shaped member surrounding said piston and a double row of spaced ribs formed between said member and said piston to provide in each row a plurality of water passage gaps therebetween, each of which gaps is less in width but greater in area than the opening in said by-pass, said by-pass being ptgsitioned in said piston between the said rows of spaced r1 s.

2. In a flush valve, a hollow body having an inlet and an outlet therein with a valve seat formed around said outlet, a piston in said body normally closing said valve seat and providing a pressure chamber above said piston,

said piston having a by-pass extending therethrough for passage of water into the pressure chamber from said inlet, said piston having a relief valve seat therein with a relief valve normally closing the same against the egress of water from said pressure chamber, and means interposed between said by-pass and inlet for precluding entry of sedimentary deposits in said by-pass tending to clog the same, said last named means comprising a ring-shaped member surrounding said piston and a double row of spaced ribs formed on said piston providing in each row a plurality of water passage gaps between said piston and said ring-shaped member, each of said gaps being narrower than the by-pass opening, said by-pass being positioned in said piston between the double row of spaced ribs, and cooperative means on said piston and ring-shaped member for removably holding said ring-shaped member on said piston.

3. In a flush valve, a body having an inlet, an outlet and a valve seat around said outlet, a piston in said body normally closing said valve seat, said body providing a pressure chamber above said piston, said piston having a relief valve passage therein and a valve seat in said passage, a relief valve having a head portion normally closing said relief valve seat and a hollow depending stem extending through said piston, an operating stem slidable in said hollow relief valve stem, a manually operated plunger extending into said valve body adapted to contact said relief valve stem and thereby cause tilting of said relief valve off its seat, said pressure chamber being thereby relieved through said piston relief passage and causing movement of said piston from its valve seat, a sealing plug in said relief valve head portion closing off said hollow depending stem, and spring means in said pressure chamber holding said sealing plug in position and said relief valve head portion normally closed on its valve seat.

4. In a flush valve, a body having an inlet, an outlet and a valve seat around said outlet, a piston in said body normally closed on said valve seat, said body providing a pressure chamber above said piston, said piston having a relief valve passage therein and a valve seat around said passage, a relief valve having a head normally closing said relief valve seat and a hollow depending stem extending through said piston passage, an operating stem slidable in said hollow relief valve stem, a sealing plug in said relief valve head closing off said hollow depending stem from said pressure chamber, spring means in said pressure chamber holding said sealing plug in place and said relief valve head normally closed on its valve seat, a manually operated plunger projecting into said valve body and adapted to engage said relief valve stem to tilt said relief valve head off its seat, said pressure chamber being thereby relieved through said piston passage and around said relief valve hollow stem to thereby cause operation of said piston from its seat, and a plurality of guiding flutes around said relief valve hollow stem and contacting the sides of said piston passage.

5. The flush valve as defined in claim 4, in which the depending stem of the relief valve is provided with an enlarged chamber closed by said sealing plug, and in which the operating stem has a head portion slidable in said enlarged chamber so that the operating stem will telescope within said relief valve hollow stem by engaging the top of the operating plunger whenever the operating plunger is held in actuated position.

6. In a flush valve as claimed in claim 4, in which the sealing plug in the relief valve is provided with an O-ring seal press fitted into the end of the hollow depending stem, the sealing plug having a flanged portion thereon also closing the end of said hollow depending stem, said spring means pressing against said flanged plug portion.

7. In a flush valve, a hollow body having an inlet and outlet and a valve seat around said outlet, a piston slidable in said body and normally closing said valve seat, a cylindrical member arranged inside said piston having a portion spaced from the inside wall of said piston, said piston having a by-pass extending therethrough into said cylindrical member space, sealing means between said cylindrical member and said piston arranged below said by-pass, said cylindrical member having a relief valve seat therein, a relief valve having a head portion normally closed on said relief valve seat and a depending portion extending through said cylindrical member, and means for manually operating said relief valve depending portion to tilt said relief valve head off its seat and thereby cause movement of said piston from its valve seat.

8. In a flush valve, a hollow body having an inlet, an outlet and a valve seat around said outlet, a hollow piston slidable in said body and normally closed on said valve seat, a cylindrical hollow member nested inside said piston and conforming generally to the inside diameter of said piston, a portion of the outside wall of said cylindrical member being spaced from the inner piston wall, said piston having a by-pass extending through the wall thereof into the space between said piston and cylindrical member, sealing means between said piston and cylindrical member arranged below said by-pass, water passage means between said piston and cylindrical member arranged above said by-pass, said cylindrical member being press fitted into said piston and held in position thereon by said sealing means and said water passage means, a relief valve seated on said cylindrical member and closing off the passage therethrough and through said piston, and manual means for opening said relief valve from its seat and opening said last passage.

9. In a flush valve, a hollow body having an inlet, an outlet and a valve seat around said outlet, a hollow piston slidable in said body and normally closed on said valve seat, a cylindrical hollow member nested inside said hollow piston and conforming generally to the inside diameter of said piston, the top and bottom ends of said cylindrical member engaging said inner piston walls and providing a space therebetween, said piston having a by-pass therein leading into said space, sealing means between the bottom end of said piston and said cylindrical member, there being water passage means between the top ends of said piston and cylindrical member above said by-pass, a relief valve seated across and closing the passage through said cylindrical member, manually operated means for tilting said relief valve from its seat to open the passage through said cylindrical member and cause operation of said piston from its valve seat, said cylindrical member and said piston having cooperating press fit means for holding them in assembled relationship.

10. A piston assembly for a flush valve in which the piston is arranged to close a main valve seat and upon operation permits the flow of water through the flush valve between the inlet and an outlet, said piston comprising a cylindrical shaped member having a lower portion normally closed upon said valve seat and an upper portion slidable in said flush valve, said piston having a by-pass extending through the side wall intermediate the top and bottom portions thereof, a shield surrounding said piston and extending on each side of said by-pass to protect the same from clogging, means for holding said shield to the sides of said piston, said means including slots and grooves on each end of said shield to permit water passage into said by-pass, a hollow cylindrical member arranged within said piston and conforming to the general shape of the inside walls thereof, means for holding said hollow cylindrical member in position in said piston, said holding means including an O-ring seal at the bottom end of said hollow cylindrical member and a series of slotted water passages at the upper end of said hollow cylindrical member, there being a space formed between and around said piston and hollow cylindrical member adjacent said bypass, and a relief valve seat formed in said hollow cylindrical member.

11. A flush valve piston adapted to control the flow of water between the inlet and the outlet of the flush valve, said piston comprising a hollow cylindrical member having downwardly converging stepped walls with a valve seating portion on one stepped wall and a by-pass in another stepped wall, a cylindrical hollow member arranged inside said piston and also having a stepped wall nesting above the second stepped wall on said piston, a relief valve seat around said stepped wall of said cylindrical hollow member, an O-ring seal around the bottom wall of said cylindrical member and contacting the inner wall of said piston, there being a series of slots between said cylindrical member and said piston at the upper engaging ends thereof, and a by-pass in said piston through one of its stepped walls arranged between the top and bottom ends of said piston and cylindrical member, and screen means around one of said piston stepped walls protecting said by-pass.

12. In a flush valve, a body having an inlet, an outlet, and a valve seat around said outlet, a hollow piston means in said body normally seated on said outlet, said piston having a relief valve seat therein, a normally seated relief valve, said relief valve having a depending stem extending through said pistontowards the outlet of said flush valve, a manually operated plunger extending through said flush valve body to a position adjacent the relief valve depending stem for contacting the same and to tilt the relief valve,

0 sealing means comprising a flexible member snapped in position around said manually operated plunger, and abutment means on said flush valve body engaged by said sealing means for holding said sealing means in its snapped on position on said plunger, in case said sealing means has a tendency to stick to said plunger and become unsnapped.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,868,520 7/1932 Brooks 251-38 2,325,556 7/1943 Taylor et al. 2772l2 X 2,406,259 8/ 1946 Russell et a1 251-40 X 2,604,905 7/1952 Myer 251-38 2,625,414 1/1953 Kranz 2772l2 2,914,086 11/1959 Beller 25144 X 3,038,347 6/1962 Sloan et al 251*214 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,116,071 l/1956 France.

854,722 11/ 1960 Great Britain.

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

E. K. FEIN, Examiner. 

1. IN A FLUSH VALVE, A HOLLOW BODY HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET THEREIN WITH A VALVE SEAT FORMED AROUND SAID OUTLET, A PISTON IN SAID BODY NORMALLY CLOSING SAID VALVE SEAT AND PROVIDING A PRESSURE CHAMBER ABOVE SAID PISTON, SAID PISTON HAVING A BY-PASS EXTENDING THERETHROUGH FOR PASSAGE OF WATER INTO THE PRESSURE CHAMBER FROM SAID INLET, SAID PISTON HAVING A RELIEF VALVE SEAT THEREIN WITH A RELIEF VALVE NORMALLY CLOSING THE SAME AGAINST THE EGRESS OF WATER FROM SAID PRESSURE CHAMBER, AND MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID BY-PASS AND INLET FOR PRECLUDING ENTRY OF SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS IN SAID BY-PASS TENDING TO CLOG THE SAME, SAID LAST NAMED MEANS COMPRISING A RING-SHAPED MEMBER SURROUNDING SAID PISTON AND A DOUBLE ROW OF SPACED RIBS FORMED BETWEEN SAID MEMBER AND SAID PISTON TO PROVIDE IN EACH ROW A PLURALITY OF WATER PASSAGE GAPS THEREBETWEEN, EACH OF WHICH GAPS IS LESS IN WIDTH BUT GREATER IN AREA THAN THE OPENING IN SAID BY-PASS, SAID BY-PASS BEING POSITIONED IN SAID PISTON BETWEEN THE SAID ROWS OF SPACED RIBS. 